The cherry on top of the pile of releases for one of the most addicting games

Apr 24, 2009

by swordshrine

Rating:

+4

Just another game, designed by marvelous interactive, which evolves around life on the farm and carries the name 'Harvest Moon'. You would think that the Harvest moon family couldn't become any bigger due to the releases for the SNES, GBA, PS2, N64, and many more. But with the introduction of the new Nintendo DS, we could've figured that Marvelous Interactive would release a new 'Harvest Moon' game. And they did, luckily.

The Harvest Moon series, a series of farm simulation/role-playing games, is one of the most addictive games I've known (And that's coming from someone who's addicted to first person shooters and strategy games).

From the first release on the SNES to the newest release on the Nintendo DS, the concept of the game has always been the same. Farm life; milking cows, sheering sheep, growing crops. Those things may sounds very dull. But in fact, those things are very addictive. However, the story differs from game to game. Let's compare Harvest Moon DS to Harvest Moon DS cute.

Harvest Moon DS starts with a 'fight' between the Harvest Goddess and the Witch Princess. The Witch Princess is sick and tired of hearing the Harvest Goddess say 'Tadaaa~!' over and over again. However, one of her spells has gone wrong and the Harvest Goddess turns into stone. When she tries to undo her mistake, she accidentally makes the Harvest Goddess dissapear. She regrets her mistake and decides to send the Harvest Sprites (al 101) to look for her. Then she starts looking for you, the 'hero' in the story. She wants you to work hard on the farm and make friends so you can bring the Harvest Sprites (and ultimately the Harvest Goddess) back.

Harvest Moon DS cute however starts with the Harvest Goddess who appears next to your bed. She sighs and regrets the fact that she told your mother she would make sure you'd be working hard and not slacking your job. She wants to stop and leave you alone, but the Harvest King interferes. After the two of them got into a verbal fight ('Baldy!'... 'I'm not bald! That should teach you!') the Harvest King decides to send the Harvest Goddess away, as a punishment. After he'd send her (and the harvest Sprites) away he regrets is. But, he comes up with the 'brilliant plan' that by doing things on your farm and living life, you can bring her back.

Besides the intro's and the fact that in Harvest Moon DS you play a boy (and in Harvest Moon DS cute a girl), there are not many differences in the game itself.The main goal is the same (getting the Harvest Goddess back) and so are a lot of events. In the Harvest Moon DS cute version there are only a few added events (which are just random). Plus, you can buy things like clothing (the same clothing, only in different colors).

Harvest Moon DS is, compared to other releases of Harvest Moon, more interactive. You can use the touch screen to milk cows, brush your animals, but also to play poker or memory.The only downside I can think of is the fact that the game gets kinda dull after a while. Not because the farm life gets boring, but because you need to unlock 80 harvest sprites (and that's quite difficult) in order to get married. After you get married everything goes downhill. Why? because there's not much to do after that. However, the release(s) for the Nintendo DS changed that. There are lots of things to do (in contradiction to Harvest Moon GBA) like for instance, unlocking all four mines. Or starting a search for the legendary sword.

Harvest Moon DS is much more than the older version (on the Game Boy Advance). More characters, more land and things to explore, more events, more possibility's.... And if you like the game, why not trying Runes of Magic? Which is the same as Harvest Moon, the farm life, only combined with magic and fantasy.

Great comparison! I think the Harvest Moon cute would be enjoyed by my oldest. She loves the Petz Dog Pack game because you can pet and care for the dogs. So I think the farm aspect would be great on this game. I was also considering getting her the Nat Geo Panda game because you can care for the Pandas-- but I think this one sounds more up her alley. Thanks!